Putin critic Navalny jailed for seven days over protest

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was
jailed for a week by a court on Tuesday for resisting arrest at a
protest over the convictions of activists for attacking police at
a 2012 rally against President Vladimir Putin.

Moving swiftly to curb the protest, Russian riot police on Monday
detained hundreds of Kremlin opponents for demonstrating against
what they called a "show trial" intended to discredit the
opposition and quash dissent.

"7 days for Alexei @navalny," his spokeswoman, Anna Veduta, wrote
on her Twitter feed.

The punishment handed to Navalny and others at the protest sends
a signal that the Kremlin will not tolerate unsanctioned
protests, with an eye on the upheaval in neighboring Ukraine
where demonstrations have unseated President Viktor Yanukovich.

Several other prominent opposition figures, including Boris
Nemtsov, involved in the protest were ordered detained by between
seven and 10 days.

The detentions have drawn criticism from Europe, adding to
strains between Russia and the West at a time when they are
deeply at odds over the future of Ukraine.

The Kremlin blames the bloodshed in Ukraine, where police were
among at least 82 people killed in clashes in Kiev last week, on
opposition leaders and the West.

Monday's ruling has been widely linked to the Kremlin's fear of
seeing the turmoil in Ukraine repeated at home.

"Of course the punishment was influenced by events in Ukraine,"
said Mikhail Barshchevsky, a lawyer who is the government's
representative to the higher courts.

He said the case was aimed at showing riot police that the
authorities were on their side.

"Any regime must first and foremost take care that it is
respected by the security forces, if it counts on their help in
the event of mass rioting," told Ekho Moskvy radio. "That
explains the sentences."

A judge had sentenced seven men on Monday to prison terms ranging
from 2-1/2 to four years after finding them guilty of rioting and
violence against police at a protest on May 6, 2012.

Kremlin critics say police started the violence at the rally on
the eve of Putin's inauguration to a third Kremlin term.

Navalny, who led anti-Putin street protests in 2011-2012, has
been restricted from leaving Moscow since his conviction in July
for organizing the theft of 16 million roubles from a timber firm
in 2009, for which he received a suspended sentence.

If Navalny is found to be in violation of the terms of his
suspended sentence, that may be commuted into real jail time.

(Writing by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2014. Follow Reuters on Twitter.